MSI's 14-inch GE40 gaming laptop priced at $1,300 with specs to take on Alienware

Sure, MSI can build hunky, nine-pound gaming notebooks, but what about lightweight rigs? It's traditionally left those to the likes of Dell and Razer. Now, though, MSI has an ultra-light gaming laptop of its own. After teasing the 14-inch GE40 at Computex last week, the company is now shipping it, with prices starting at $1,300. What's interesting is that this announcement comes hot on the heels of Dell unveiling the new Alienware 14, and as far as specs go, at least, MSI comes out on top. For $1,300, you get a 2.9GHz Core i7-4702MQ processor, a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX760M GPU, 8GB of RAM, a 750GB 7,200RPM hard drive, a bigger 90Wh battery, a sharper 1,600 x 900 display and a much lighter frame (4.4 pounds vs. 6.1 on the Alienware 14).

If you like, MSI is also selling a $1,400 version that combines a 128GB mSATA solid-state drive with a 750GB HDD. Now it's true, the Alienware can be had for a hundred dollars less than the lowest-end GE40, but it'll mean settling for a 1,366 x 768 display, a lesser CPU and half the VRAM. Naturally, spec sheets don't tell the whole story, and we hope to eventually review both of these, but if you're in the market for a lightweight gaming laptop that won't break the bank, this guy could be it.